Written Answers Thursday 3 December 2009

Scottish Executive

Airports

Liam McArthur (Orkney) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive what assessment it has made of the impact on Orkney of the planned introduction of car parking charges at Kirkwall Airport.

Stewart Stevenson: We have not made such an assessment. Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd consulted interested parties prior to taking the decision to introduce car parking charges.

Cancer

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which NHS boards make sentinel node biopsy available to patients with breast cancer.

Nicola Sturgeon: Sentinel node biopsy is currently available to all breast cancer patients in Scotland where this is clinically appropriate. Services are configured so that all suitable patients are offered the procedure at their nearest breast cancer unit providing it.

  All breast surgeons are required to undertake the necessary training before performing this procedure and have to comply with nationally agreed protocols regarding training and monitoring. Training in the sentinel node biopsy technique is delivered locally and consideration is currently being given to the training needs of new recruits.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-18880 on 8 January 2009 where I outlined that Better Cancer Care: An Action Plan stated that the Scottish Government together with the Regional Cancer Advisory Groups and NHS boards would explore the feasibility of sentinel node biopsy being made available across NHSScotland. Scottish Government has not committed to undertaking a feasibility study into the availability of sentinel node biopsy.

  The regional cancer networks have been working with their constituent NHS boards to progress making sentinel node biopsy available across NHSScotland and as the above information denotes, the procedure is now available across all regions.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Children and Young People

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many serious case reviews have been carried out by local authorities in each of the last 10 years.

Adam Ingram: In Scotland, a Significant Case Review will be undertaken in those instances identified in the Scottish Government’s national guidance Protecting Children & Young People: Interim Guidance for Child protection Committees for Conducting a Significant Case Review . Prior to 2007 there was no national guidance relating to Significant Case reviews, leading to inconsistency in practice across the country in this area.

  Since 1999 there have been 99 Significant Case Reviews in Scotland based on information from 31 local authorities:

  Number of Significant Case Reviews

  

 Year
 


 1999
 3


 2000
 0


 2001
 3


 2002
 0


 2003
 5


 2004
 9


 2005
 10


 2006
 14


 2007
 15


 2008
 13


 2009
 27



  One local authority was unable to provide the information requested within the timescales available.

Class Sizes

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive, further to its freedom of information reply of 12 February 2008 regarding a meeting with the deans of faculties of education, which ministers were offered the advice on class sizes that "the scale of the commitment does not allow it to be delivered in the lifetime of a parliament".

Michael Russell: As Mr Henry knows from the response to his freedom of information request of 27 February 2008 it is considered that the minute of the meeting with universities does not describe the advice given to ministers with sufficient accuracy to provide the information requested. If it were ministers would then have to consider whether the exemptions to disclosure in the Freedom of Information Act applied and if so whether in the circumstances of the case the public interest in disclosing the information is not outweighed by that of maintaining the exemption.

Climate Change

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will publish its land use strategy, as specified in section 57 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009.

Richard Lochhead: Section 57 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act introduced a statutory requirement for ministers to lay a land use strategy before Parliament by 31 March 2011 and to undertake a public consultation on a draft of the Strategy before doing so. We will provide information on the Scottish Government website in the next few weeks including an outline timetable and plans for stakeholder and public participation in the development of the strategy.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, when the balance of the money paid to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation was repaid.

Alex Neil: The Scottish-Islamic Foundation returned £128,000, which was the unspent balance of the £200,000 provided for the delivery of IslamFest, on 1 July 2009.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, for what purposes the £200,000 was awarded to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation; against what criteria the decision was made, and by which minister.

Alex Neil: IslamFest is designed to enhance community cohesion, tackle negative attitudes and encourage greater engagement with Scottish Muslim communities. I also refer the member to the answer to question S3W-15066 on 3 September 2008.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, whether ministers asked that money be repaid by the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Alex Neil: The Minister for Community Safety and I instructed officials to recall the funding as is standard and proper practice.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what correspondence there was between the Scottish-Islamic Foundation and ministers or their officials regarding the repayment of money to the Scottish Government.

Alex Neil: Officials wrote to the Scottish-Islamic Foundation on 7 April 2009 who responded on 1 June 2009 by providing a cheque for the unspent IslamFest allocation. Due to an error made by officials on how the payee was addressed, a replacement cheque was requested from the Scottish-Islamic Foundation on 22 June 2009 and this was received by the Scottish Government on 1 July 2009.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, what targets or objectives agreed between it and the Scottish-Islamic Foundation as conditions of funding when the £200,000 was awarded will not be met following the repayment of £128,000.

Alex Neil: The Scottish-Islamic Foundation’s objectives are to enhance community cohesion, tackle negative attitudes and encourage greater engagement with Scottish Muslim communities through their Salaam Scotland and Etisal activities.

Communities

Des McNulty (Clydebank and Milngavie) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-27919 by Alex Neil on 29 October 2009, whether further applications for funding have been received from the Scottish-Islamic Foundation.

Alex Neil: Scottish Government funding for the Scottish-Islamic Foundation was set out in the answer to question S3W-15005 on 3 September 2008. No additional funding will be provided over and above the original grants.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Concessionary Travel

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the recommendation of the Review of Concessionary Fares not to extend the scheme to people on the lower rate of mobility benefit.

Stewart Stevenson: While the Scottish Government understands the case being made to extend the scheme to include people on the lower rate of mobility benefit, the review report made it very clear that it would not be practical to extend the scheme at this time. That view is shared by the Scottish Government.

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects to publish the criteria for the use of funds allocated to the LEADER programme for rural broadband.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it expects the LEADER programme to seek the first applications for rural broadband improvements and when the first grant awards are likely to be made.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the LEADER broadband programme will actively target communities with no terrestrial broadband service first and whether communities with significant broadband reliability issues will receive equal consideration.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether rural communities will be able to publicly procure exchange upgrades using LEADER broadband programme funds in areas where public access broadband infrastructure may already have received some public investment.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether communities will be able to publicly procure fibre connections to, or closer to, their communities using LEADER broadband programme funds.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there will be a common approach to the use of LEADER broadband programme funds.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what support and expertise will be available to local communities in the processes of publicly procuring first time or improved broadband access to their area under the LEADER broadband programme.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is undertaking to assess the potential for Scotland of the latest generation of wireless broadband technologies.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that wireless broadband connections are likely to form part of its future strategy for broadband in rural Scotland.

Jim Mather: It is anticipated that Scotland’s rural communities will benefit from €2.9 million funding, allocated for broadband projects, from the European Economic Recovery Package. Funding will be made available to applicants for new or enhanced broadband infrastructure provision. Proposals under consideration include inviting individuals or local communities, with technical support, to establish their service requirements and identify a provider prior to submitting a funding application. Discussions are ongoing between officials and others, including LEADER Local Action Groups, to identify the most effective mechanism, including support and expertise, to deliver these benefits.

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its position is on the conclusions of the Digital Britain Report on a universal service target for broadband of 2 megabits per second for every broadband customer, or whether it has a different target for Scotland.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to ensure that every Scottish broadband consumer benefits from a minimum of 2 megabits per second of broadband connectivity.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the backhaul infrastructure in Scotland is sufficient to allow every broadband customer to benefit from a minimum of 2 megabits per second broadband connectivity.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that Scotland’s particular needs are met in the delivery of improved broadband to meet the Digital Britain Report  universal service target.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to ensure that Scotland’s distinct needs are understood and given priority by the Network Design and Procurement Group, which will develop key work flowing from the Digital Britain Report .

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to secure an appropriate share of the UK funds available for the broadband universal service target flowing from the Digital Britain Report in order to meet Scotland’s distinct needs and whether it has plans to add to those funds.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its relationship is with the Network Design and Procurement Group flowing from the Digital Britain Report .

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is doing to help project demand for broadband services as a basis for helping to encourage improved investment in broadband infrastructure.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many consumers it considers do not have access to a minimum 2 megabits per second broadband connection from current suppliers, broken down by local authority area.

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what work it is aware of, or has commissioned, to identify key bottlenecks in backhaul capacity that might constrain future upgrading of broadband provision.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government welcomes the Digital Britain Report ’s intention to implement a universal service commitment (USC) for broadband at 2 megabits per second (Mbps), which is an improvement on our current commitment of provision of basic broadband (defined at 512Kbps) to known demand. At this time we have no plans to set a different target.

  We have formally requested from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) for there to exist an appropriate mechanism by which the Scottish Government can effectively contribute to the work of the Network Design and Procurement Group (NDPG), which will have responsibility, at UK level, for delivery of the USC. However to date, we have not reached agreement with BIS on this matter.

  We are hopeful that BIS will agree to a formal mechanism by which the Scottish Government can represent Scotland’s particular needs, issues and experiences at UK level to the NDPG. Through this mechanism, we are hopeful that we can work with the NDPG to try to ensure delivery of the USC at 2Mbps to Scottish citizens, and that Scotland benefits from an appropriate share of the UK funding. The UK Government has not made any formal approach to the Scottish Government for a contribution to the funding package.

  It is not known by the Scottish Government how many consumers currently do not have access to broadband at a speed of 2Mbps. Similarly, it is not known whether or not the backhaul infrastructure in Scotland is sufficient to allow delivery of the USC at 2Mbps, nor are we aware of, or do we currently plan to commission work to assess, any bottlenecks in backhaul capacity.

Digital Technology

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what role it has to secure higher speed and more reliable and affordable broadband for rural areas, following publication of the Digital Britain Report.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government’s current commitment extends to provision of a basic broadband service (defined as 512Kbps) only, to known demand. This notwithstanding, we are in the early stages of defining our policy towards next-generation broadband. To produce an updated evidence-base to inform policy development in this area, I have already hosted an industry seminar, and officials will early next year be commissioning research and engaging with other public and private sector interests.

  It is too early to say what direction this future policy will take, but in our approach, we will certainly consider all appropriate broadband technologies, including wireless; different intervention models, including demand-side ones; and existing public sector-led and community-led projects, of which Cybermoor is an example of the latter.

Flooding

Murdo Fraser (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the recent flooding in Tayside, what (a) assistance and (b) compensation affected farmers in Angus and Perthshire can expect from the Scottish Government and its agencies.

Roseanna Cunningham: The primary responsibility to safeguard property and businesses from hazards of nature such as flooding lies with the owners concerned. They are required to take all reasonable steps to protect their property from such hazards.

  However, farmers can expect advice on flood risk and flood warnings from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). SEPA operates flood warning schemes on most of the large rivers and their tributaries in Perthshire and Angus, with warnings for the North Esk becoming operational in March 2010. Farmers can currently access information on flooding through SEPA’s Floodline telephone system, 0845 988 1188, or SEPA’s website www.sepa.org.uk. SEPA’s Flood Warnings Direct service will become operational in March 2011 when farmers who pre-register their landlines and mobiles with SEPA, will be sent messages free of charge about flooding in areas covered by flood warning schemes. The messages will point them to Floodline for more detailed information; providing them with crucial time to take action.

Glasgow Airport Rail Link

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive Scottish Executive, if further capital is accelerated in the pre Budget report, whether it will consider reinstating the Glasgow Airport Rail Link as requested by Scotland’s six principal business organisations.

John Swinney: With Parliament’s support we accelerated some £350 million of capital spending from 2010-11 into 2008-09 and 2009-10. That money has delivered real benefits, but it means, of course, that the budget for 2010-11 had to be reduced accordingly. Similarly if we seek to accelerate capital spending into 2010-11 we will have to repay it in subsequent years and for the GARL project the call on capital funding would be greatest in 2011 through to 2014.

Health

Margaret Curran (Glasgow Baillieston) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Wellbeing has had with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde regarding hospital services in Glasgow.

Nicola Sturgeon: I last met with the chief executive and senior team of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde on 19 October this year when I chaired the board’s annual review. We discussed the board’s performance against Scottish Government targets and local service priorities. I also visited the Southern General Hospital on 9 November for the unveiling of the design of the new South Glasgow Hospital.

Health

Bill Kidd (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what effects it considers the UK Government’s proposed changes to attendance allowance and disability living allowance would have on the provision of services to older and disabled people in Scotland.

Shona Robison: I have put on record to the Secretary of State for Health my concerns about the limited detail set out in the English Green Paper exploring the options for the future funding of social care and support. Any reforms to the benefits system by the UK Government will need to give due consideration to the needs and the provision of services to older and disabled people in Scotland.

Health

Christina McKelvie (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of the NHS Scotland budget is represented by prescription drug costs and how that figure compares with those from 2005-06 to 2007-08.

Shona Robison: Prescribed drugs costs for 2008-09 were £1,277.9 million, representing 15% of net service expenditure. The proportion of service expenditure represented by prescribed drug costs has fallen every year since 2005-06 when it was 16.1%.

Mental Health

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are being taken to ensure that all forensic mental health service units have access to specialist drug and alcohol services.

Shona Robison: NHS health boards are responsible for ensuring that forensic patients receive appropriate care and treatment and that includes treatment for drug and alcohol problems if required. Services are available and provided in each of the forensic mental health service units.

National Parks

Jamie Hepburn (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what statutory core funding has been provided to each of the regional parks in each year since 1999.

Roseanna Cunningham: Funding of regional parks is a matter for the appropriate local authorities.

  Until 2008-09 SNH provided discretionary grant funding towards core and other costs for the regional parks. The sums provided to each park for each year since 1999, were as follows:

  

 Regional Park
1999-2000 
(£ Million)
2000-01 
(£ Million)
2001-02 
(£ Million)
2002-03 
(£ Million)
2003-04 
(£ Million)


 Pentland Hills
 0.121
 0.124
 0.115
 0.112
 0.098


 Clyde-Muirshiels
 0.218
 0.218
 0.236
 0.239
 0.263


 Lomond Hills (Fife)
 0.077
 0.058
 0.068
 0.065
 0.080



  

 Regional Park
2004-05 
(£ Million)
2005-06 
(£ Million)
2006-07 
(£ Million)
2007-08 
(£ Million)
2008-09 
(£ Million)


 Pentland Hills
 0.121
 0.110
 0.112
 0.109
 0.107


 Clyde-Muirshiels
 0.256
 0.262
 0.262
 0.267
 0.262


 Lomond Hills (Fife)
 0.092
 0.086
 0.089
 0.088
 0.069



  Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) has no records of paying grants to the Loch Lomond Regional Park, which ceased to operate as regional park following the designation of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park in 2002.

  As part of the Concordat agreed by Scottish Government and Convention of Scottish Local authorities, Scottish ministers agreed to transfer to the local government finance settlement for 2009-10 and 2010-11, the resources which SNH would have paid to local authorities for their natural heritage projects on the basis that this would enable local authorities to determine local priorities in the use of these funds. This transfer took account of the funds which SNH had previously paid to regional parks. SNH will, however, continue to respond to requests for advice from the regional parks and from the local authority partners who constituted the regional parks.

Racism

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of racism have been recorded in the Lothians region in each of the last three years, broken down by local authority area.

Fergus Ewing: The information requested is given in Table 2 on page 12 of the statistical bulletin Racist Incidents Recorded by the Police in Scotland 2004-05 to 2007-08, published by the Scottish Government in March 2009, copies of which are available in the Scottish Parliament’s Information Centre (Bib. number 49726).

  Statistics on racist incidents recorded by the police in Scotland in 2008-09 are due to be published in March 2010.

Rail Network

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what projects Network Rail has contracted to finance, on behalf of the Scottish Government, from borrowing against its regulated asset base, broken down by (a) project and (b) repayment timescales.

Stewart Stevenson: The Periodic Review for Control Period 4 (2009-14) includes confirmation from the Office of Rail Regulation that the projects Airdrie to Bathgate, GARL mainline and Glasgow Barrhead Kilmarnock are funded through the Network Rail Regulatory Asset Base (RAB). The associated payments are included within the current determination payments to Network Rail.

  Transport Scotland is also pursuing the necessary process with Network Rail and the Office of Rail Regulation to secure the use of RAB finance for a number of other projects, including: the Edinburgh–Glasgow Improvements programme; the provision of escalators and lifts at Edinburgh Waverley; extended platforms and other infrastructure works in Ayrshire and Inverclyde to facilitate the introduction of the new electric train fleet and improvements to parts of the Highland rail network.

  RAB funding is where Network Rail finances the investment, from borrowing against the value of their asset base and repays the loans from the revenue stream provided by government over the life of the project, which for rail is normally thirty years.

Rail Services

Charlie Gordon (Glasgow Cathcart) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it indemnifies the ScotRail franchisee against any adverse financial consequences of industrial disputes in the rail industry.

Stewart Stevenson: The Franchise Agreement between Scottish Ministers and the ScotRail franchisee which was drawn up by the previous administration and has applied since 2004, allows the franchisee to ask for reimbursement for net losses as a result of industrial action providing it takes reasonable steps to avoid industrial action and mitigate its effects.

Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many complaints have been investigated by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission since its inception.

Kenny MacAskill: For the first full year of business the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission’s complaint figures are as follows.

  

 Complaints Dealt With Under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 Transitional Order


 General enquiries (predominantly about legal complaints)
 2,481


 Complaints received
 2,237


 How The 2,237 Complaints Were Dealt With


 Not eligible for investigation
 624


 In process of being assessed to see if eligible for investigation
 134


 Investigated or in process of being investigated by the SLCC
 49


 Referred to the Law Society of Scotland for investigation as a conduct complaint under 2007 Act
 44


 Referred to the Law Society of Scotland for investigation under Transitional Powers
 1,366


 Referred to the Faculty of Advocates for investigation as a conduct complaint under 2007 Act
 2


 Referred to the Faculty of Advocates for investigation under Transitional Powers
 18


 Total
 2,237


 Complaints Dealt With By The SLCC Under The Old Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman’s Powers


 Complaints received
 138


 Complaints investigated or in process of being investigated
155 (this differs from the number above as it includes complaints received pre 1.10.08)

Sectarianism

Bill Butler (Glasgow Anniesland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to the Iona Community to support its anti-sectarianism rehabilitation programme as of 18 November 2009, broken down by (a) financial year and (b) amount awarded.

Fergus Ewing: I am currently considering a proposal which would enable the Iona Community to deliver anti-sectarian workshops in adult prisons. This would be an extension of the work they currently undertake with inmates at Polmont Young Offenders Institution using Beyond a Culture of Two Halves,  an anti-sectarian youth work education resource developed by YouthLink Scotland, for which we provided £22,000 and which I launched in December 2008.

Sexual Health

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what progress is being made on improving the sexual health of young people.

Shona Robison: Through targeted services, young people in Scotland now have increased access to contraception and testing for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections. This increased access, linked to high quality sex and relationships education and information provides the most effective means of improving the sexual health of young people in Scotland.

Social Care

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with COSLA regarding the implications for social care of the UK Government’s proposals to change attendance allowance.

Shona Robison: On 13 November, I signed a joint letter with the COSLA spokesperson for health and wellbeing to the Secretary of State for Health recording our concerns about the limited detail set out in the English Green Paper exploring the options for the future funding of social care and support.

Transport

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many licensed HGVs there are, broken down by weight category.

Stewart Stevenson: The following table shows the number of licensed HGVs in Scotland, broken down by weight category.

  

 Gross Weight (Tonnes)
 2000
 2001
 2002
 2003
 2004
 2005
 2006
 2007
 2008


 3.5 to 7.5
 9.9
 9.2
 9.3
 9.4
 9.7
 10.1
 10.5
 9.9
 9.8


 7.51 to 12
 1.1
 0.9
 0.9
 0.9
 0.9
 1.0
 1.0
 0.8
 0.8


 12.1 to 16
 1.4
 1.4
 1.3
 1.3
 1.3
 1.4
 1.4
 1.4
 1.4


 16.1 to 20
 5.1
 5.1
 4.9
 4.7
 4.7
 4.7
 4.9
 4.8
 4.7


 20.1 to 24
 0.9
 0.9
 1.1
 1.4
 1.4
 1.3
 1.3
 1.2
 1.2


 24.1 to 28
 3.1
 3.1
 3.3
 3.4
 3.7
 4.0
 4.3
 4.3
 4.2


 28.1 to 32
 1.7
 1.7
 1.9
 2.0
 2.2
 2.3
 2.7
 2.9
 3.0


 32.1 to 38
 3.6
 2.6
 2.0
 1.7
 1.5
 1.3
 1.2
 1.1
 1.0


 Over 38
 3.8
 5.0
 5.7
 6.2
 6.7
 6.9
 7.3
 7.3
 7.4


 Total 
 30.7
 29.9
 30.5
 31.0
 31.9
 33.0
 34.7
 33.6
 33.6



  Source: Department for Transport.

Transport

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of kilometres travelled by UK-licensed HGVs on Scottish roads in the last year, broken down by (a) weight category and (b) type of road.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information is held on the number of (a) kilometres travelled, (b) journeys made and (c) days spent on the road in Scotland by HGVs from outwith the United Kingdom.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of journeys made by (a) UK-based and (b) non-UK-based HGVs in Scotland in the last year and their weight category.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of kilometres travelled by HGVs in Scotland in the last year, broken down by (a) UK-based and (b) non-UK-based HGVs and showing their weight category.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of kilometres travelled by UK-based HGVs over 3.5 tonnes on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in the last year.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of kilometres travelled by non-UK-based HGVs over 3.5 tonnes on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in the last year.

Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is not held centrally as the data available does not distinguish between GB and non-GB registered vehicles.

Transport

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what information it has on the number of kilometres travelled by HGVs over 3.5 tonnes on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in the last year.

Stewart Stevenson: In 2008, HGV traffic in Scotland accounted for 2.8 billion vehicle kilometres, of which 1.5 billion vehicle kilometres were on rural roads.

Transport

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of kilometres that will be travelled by UK-based HGVs over 3.5 tonnes on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in each of the next five years.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of kilometres that will be travelled by non-UK-based HGVs over 3.5 tonnes on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in each of the next five years.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of kilometres that will be travelled by UK-based HGVs on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in each of the next five years.

Alison McInnes (North East Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what estimate it has made of the number of kilometres that will be travelled by non-UK-based HGVs on (a) all and (b) rural roads in Scotland in each of the next five years.

Stewart Stevenson: The information requested is not held centrally.

Transport

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answers to questions S3W-26158, S3W-26159 and S3W-26160 by Stewart Stevenson on 31 August and 2 September 2009 respectively, for what reason various sections of the new M80 from Stepps to Haggs are being constructed to a capacity less than technically required by Transport Scotland’s own traffic projections as set out in the Congestion Reference Flow.

Stewart Stevenson: Following the outcome of the Central Scotland Transport Corridor Studies which were announced in 2003, the then ministers decided that in view of their policy aspirations for traffic stabilisation in the medium term, the recommended full upgrade as indicated by the Congestion Reference Flow, should be replaced by a limited upgrade. This upgrade would provide an appropriate balance in terms of operational improvements, while limiting any unsustainable growth in traffic volumes. An important part of that decision was the undertaking that, should they be required, integral traffic management measures would be implemented to maintain an acceptable level of service on the route. These measures may include ramp metering to assist joining traffic to take advantage of the gaps in the mainline traffic and upstream ramp availability constraints and online metering to give priority to high occupancy vehicles and other economically important traffic.